Memory power delivery noise suppression

ABSTRACT

In some embodiments a voltage regulator provides an operation voltage to a memory system and a transient voltage supply adjusts the operation voltage provided by the voltage regulator during transient events of the memory system. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The inventions generally relate to memory power delivery noisesuppression.

BACKGROUND

In personal computers current programs and data that are in use arestored in system memory. The system memory holds the instructions thatthe processor executes and also holds the data that those instructionswork with. System memory is often referred to as simply “memory”. Systemmemory is an important part of the main processing subsystem of thecomputer, and is typically coupled with the processor, cache,motherboard, and chipset.

Memory requires power to be delivered so that the supplied voltage ismaintained properly. A voltage regulator (VR) has previously been usedto ensure the proper voltage supply level. However, a voltage transientnoise can occur in the power supply that can cause the system memory tofunction improperly. This has particularly become an issue in upcomingnext generations of memory platforms. Therefore, a need has arisen toensure that transient noise in the voltage provided to memory systems isminimized and/or controlled within an acceptable range.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The inventions will be understood more fully from the detaileddescription given below and from the accompanying drawings of someembodiments of the inventions which, however, should not be taken tolimit the inventions to the specific embodiments described, but are forexplanation and understanding only.

FIG. 1 illustrates waveforms relating to power delivery during memorysystem operation according to some embodiments of the inventions.

FIG. 2 illustrates a memory system and memory system power deliverycircuitry according to some embodiments of the inventions.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart according to some embodiments of theinventions.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Some embodiments of the inventions relate to memory power delivery noisesuppression.

In some embodiments a voltage regulator provides an operation voltage toa memory system and a transient voltage supply adjusts the operationvoltage provided by the voltage regulator during transient events of thememory system.

In some embodiments a system includes a memory system, a voltageregulator and a transient voltage supply. The voltage regulator providesan operation voltage to the memory system and the transient voltagesupply adjusts the operation voltage provided by the voltage regulatorduring transient events of the memory system.

In some embodiments an operation voltage is provided to a memory systemand the operation voltage provided to the memory system is adjustedduring transient events of the memory system.

According to some embodiments an alternative mechanism in system memorypower delivery design is implemented. The mechanism includes apoint-of-load voltage regulator on a base board or a module, a memorycard and/or memory module, and/or Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM)devices. According to some embodiments, voltage control is performed inorder to suppress transient noise in memory device (for example, DRAMdevice) power delivery. A transient noise introduced into the memorysystem supply voltage due, for example, to load stepping current oftencauses supply voltage undershoots and/or overshoots. Supply voltageundershoots and/or overshoots can lead to memory performance degradationand/or signal integrity issues. The worst case load transient eventoccurs, for example, during the memory operation of memory refreshand/or auto refresh. Due to DRAM architecture design, the worst caseload transient event occurs at a fixed time interval or in a constanttime period.

According to some embodiments, by adjusting the voltage level of thevoltage regulator (VR) output or an equivalent voltage reference basedon memory refresh or auto-refresh cycle, voltage transient noise can beminimized and/or controlled within an acceptable range. That is, memorytransient Alternating Current (AC) noise can be suppressed actively in acontrollable manner. This avoids the addition of more and more passivedecoupling capacitors in the power delivery network as used in previousapproaches to the problem.

FIG. 1 illustrates waveforms 100 relating to power delivery duringmemory system operation. Waveforms 100 include a memory current loadchange waveform 102 and a transient memory supply voltage waveform 104according to some embodiments. The load current 102 and the voltagetransient 104 include a dipping of the current and a voltage spike afterthe current dip. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the current dipand/or voltage spike occur roughly in a periodic manner every 32 us.Such a current dip and/or voltage spike can occur, for example, due to amemory auto-refresh.

FIG. 2 illustrates a memory system and memory system power deliverycircuitry 200 according to some embodiments of the inventions. Thesystem 200 includes a memory system (and/or memory subsystem) 202, avoltage regulator (VR) 204 (for example, a master voltage regulator), atransient voltage supply 206 (for example, a pull-up/pull-down slavetransient voltage supply), a clock timer 208, a current register (ortransient load register) 210, and a summation device 212. According tosome embodiments memory subsystem 202 includes one or more memory chipsand/or memory modules, one or more DRAM chips and/or DRAM modules, oneor more Dual In-Line Memory Modules (DIMMs), one or more Double DataRate (DDR) memory chips and/or DDR memory modules, and/or one or morefuture generation memory chips and/or memory modules.

The power delivery scheme 200 illustrated in FIG. 2 allows for avariable voltage regulator (VR) output and inherent feedback control.Voltage regulator 204 (for example, a master VR) supplies power to thememory system 202 in all circumstances where memory system 202 needspower. In response to a voltage or current sense, voltage regulator 204provides a voltage Vcc-1. The transient voltage supply 206 powers upduring transient events of the memory system 202. The voltage suppliedby transient voltage supply 206 provides a voltage Vcc-2 in order topull-up or pull-down the operation voltage Vcc ultimately supplied tomemory system 202. The voltage Vcc-2 supplied by transient voltagesupply 206 to pull-up or pull-down the operation voltage Vcc iscontrolled in response to outputs from the clock timer 208 and thecurrent register 210. The outputs provided by the clock timer 208include an initial time t₀ and a period T of the control signal providedto the memory system (for example, an initial time and a period of amemory control signal). The outputs provided by the current register 210include a maximum current Imax demanded by the memory system 202 and astep current “delta I” demanded by the memory system 202. In response tothe initial time t₀, the period of the control signal T, the maximumcurrent I_(max) demanded by the memory system 202, and/or the stepcurrent “delta I” demanded by the memory system 202, transient voltagesupply 206 provides the voltage Vcc-2 that pulls-up/pulls-down thevoltage Vcc-1 output from voltage regulator 204 to obtain the operationvoltage Vcc input to the memory system 202. According to someembodiments, summation device 212 is a device that provides the simplefunction of an algebraic sum of two values (voltages Vcc-1 and Vcc-2) toobtain the operation voltage Vcc. In this manner, according to someembodiments, a transient supply is able to be used to suppress voltagetransient noise, minimize voltage transient noise, and/or controlvoltage transient noise within an acceptable range. For example,according to some embodiments, a transient supply is used to maintainvoltage transient noise such that the supply voltage remains within 5%of the normal supply voltage (Vcc).

FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart 300 according to some embodiments. At box302 power is supplied to a memory, for example using a voltage regulator(for example, in some embodiments a voltage regulator such as voltageregulator 204 illustrated in FIG. 2). At box 304 a determination is madeas to whether a transient memory event is occurring. If not, flowreturns to box 302. If so, a maximum current Imax and a step current“delta I” is received at box 306 (for example, from a current registersuch as a current register 210 illustrated in FIG. 2). At box 308 aninitial time t₀ and a time period T of a control signal provided to thememory is received (for example, from a clock timer such as clock timer208 illustrated in FIG. 2). At box 310 the power supplied to the memoryis adjusted in response to the maximum current Imax, the step current“delta I”, the initial time t₀, and/or the time period T, and flow isthen returned to box 302.

According to some embodiments some or all of the functions performed atbox 304, 306, 308, and/or 310 may be performed by a transient powersupply (for example, transient power supply 206 illustrated in FIG. 2)and/or a summation device (for example, summation device 212 illustratedin FIG. 2).

Although FIG. 3 has been illustrated without a “start” box and withoutan “end” box, it is noted that flow 300 may be started or stopped at anytime. According to some embodiments, when started flow starts at the topof the drawing and begins at box 302. According to some embodiments,flow may be stopped at any time (for example, during normal operation ofthe master voltage regulator and/or during a specific transient event).

According to some embodiments, operation voltage (Vcc) of a memorysystem is stabilized and/or actively controlled within a tolerancewindow in order to meet performance demands (for example, performancedemands for futher memory generations).

According to some embodiments, decoupling capacitors necessary withprevious traditional memory system voltage regulation implementationssuch as for power delivery to DRAM modules or memory systems orsubsystems can be removed and/or minimized.

According to some embodiments module real estate can be freed up due todecoupling capacitor placement and/or interconnect layout.

According to some embodiments, a power delivery solution is providedthat is entirely or almost entirely independent of the memory systemusing a few parameters to adjust the transient voltage supply outputmagnitude, and/or providing design flexibility and/or forward and/orbackward compatibilities.

According to some embodiments, memory devices (for example, DRAMdevices) operate under a relatively stable voltage supply withoutrequiring additional decoupling capacitors on the module or base board.According to some embodiments, a performance benefit is provided by thereplacement of “passive control” with a predetermined “active” controlfor supply of operational voltage to memory systems (and/or memorymodules, memory devices, etc.)

Although some embodiments have been described in reference to particularimplementations, other implementations are possible according to someembodiments. Additionally, the arrangement and/or order of circuitelements or other features illustrated in the drawings and/or describedherein need not be arranged in the particular way illustrated anddescribed. Many other arrangements are possible according to someembodiments.

In each system shown in a figure, the elements in some cases may eachhave a same reference number or a different reference number to suggestthat the elements represented could be different and/or similar.However, an element may be flexible enough to have differentimplementations and work with some or all of the systems shown ordescribed herein. The various elements shown in the figures may be thesame or different. Which one is referred to as a first element and whichis called a second element is arbitrary.

In the description and claims, the terms “coupled” and “connected,”along with their derivatives, may be used. It should be understood thatthese terms are not intended as synonyms for each other. Rather, inparticular embodiments, “connected” may be used to indicate that two ormore elements are in direct physical or electrical contact with eachother. “Coupled” may mean that two or more elements are in directphysical or electrical contact. However, “coupled” may also mean thattwo or more elements are not in direct contact with each other, but yetstill co-operate or interact with each other.

An algorithm is here, and generally, considered to be a self-consistentsequence of acts or operations leading to a desired result. Theseinclude physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, thoughnot necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical ormagnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined,compared, and otherwise manipulated. It has proven convenient at times,principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to these signals asbits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers or the like.It should be understood, however, that all of these and similar termsare to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and aremerely convenient labels applied to these quantities.

Some embodiments may be implemented in one or a combination of hardware,firmware, and software. Some embodiments may also be implemented asinstructions stored on a machine-readable medium, which may be read andexecuted by a computing platform to perform the operations describedherein. A machine-readable medium may include any mechanism for storingor transmitting information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., acomputer). For example, a machine-readable medium may include read onlymemory (ROM); random access memory (RAM); magnetic disk storage media;optical storage media; flash memory devices; electrical, optical,acoustical or other form of propagated signals (e.g., carrier waves,infrared signals, digital signals, the interfaces that transmit and/orreceive signals, etc.), and others.

An embodiment is an implementation or example of the inventions.Reference in the specification to “an embodiment,” “one embodiment,”“some embodiments,” or “other embodiments” means that a particularfeature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with theembodiments is included in at least some embodiments, but notnecessarily all embodiments, of the inventions. The various appearances“an embodiment,” “one embodiment,” or “some embodiments” are notnecessarily all referring to the same embodiments.

Not all components, features, structures, characteristics, etc.described and illustrated herein need be included in a particularembodiment or embodiments. If the specification states a component,feature, structure, or characteristic “may”, “might”, “can” or “could”be included, for example, that particular component, feature, structure,or characteristic is not required to be included. If the specificationor claim refers to “a” or “an” element, that does not mean there is onlyone of the element. If the specification or claims refer to “anadditional” element, that does not preclude there being more than one ofthe additional element.

Although flow diagrams and/or state diagrams may have been used hereinto describe embodiments, the inventions are not limited to thosediagrams or to corresponding descriptions herein. For example, flow neednot move through each illustrated box or state, or in exactly the sameorder as illustrated and described herein.

The inventions are not restricted to the particular details listedherein. Indeed, those skilled in the art having the benefit of thisdisclosure will appreciate that many other variations from the foregoingdescription and drawings may be made within the scope of the presentinventions. Accordingly, it is the following claims including anyamendments thereto that define the scope of the inventions.

1. An apparatus comprising: a voltage regulator to provide an operationvoltage to a memory system; and a transient voltage supply to adjust theoperation voltage provided by the voltage regulator during transientevents of the memory system.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein thetransient voltage supply is to adjust the operation voltage in responseto an initial time of a control signal input to the memory system, aperiod of the memory control signal, a maximum current demanded by thememory system, and a step current demanded by the memory system.
 3. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the transient voltage supply is able topull-up or pull-down the operational voltage during transient events ofthe memory system.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transientvoltage supply is to adjust the operation voltage to suppress transientnoise in power delivery to the memory system.
 5. The apparatus of claim1, wherein the memory system includes a Dynamic Random Access Memorydevice.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transient voltagesupply is to adjust the operation voltage based on a memory refreshcycle.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transient voltage supplyis to adjust the operation voltage to control voltage transient noisewithin an acceptable range.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1, furthercomprising a clock timer to provide to the transient voltage supply aninitial time and a period of a memory control signal input to the memorysystem, the transient voltage supply to adjust the operation voltage inresponse to the initial time and the period provided by the clock timer.9. The apparatus of claim 7, further comprising a current register toprovide to the transient voltage supply a maximum current and a stepcurrent demanded by the memory system, the transient voltage supply toadjust the operation voltage in response to the maximum current and thestep current provided by the current register.
 10. The apparatus ofclaim 1, further comprising a current register to provide to thetransient voltage supply a maximum current and a step current demandedby the memory system, the transient voltage supply to adjust theoperation voltage in response to the maximum current and the stepcurrent provided by the current register.
 11. A system comprising: amemory system; a voltage regulator to provide an operation voltage tothe memory system; and a transient voltage supply to adjust theoperation voltage provided by the voltage regulator during transientevents of the memory system.
 12. The system of claim 10, wherein thetransient voltage supply is to adjust the operation voltage in responseto an initial time of a control signal input to the memory system, aperiod of the memory control signal, a maximum current demanded by thememory system, and a step current demanded by the memory system.
 13. Thesystem of claim 10, wherein the transient voltage supply is able topull-up or pull-down the operational voltage during transient events ofthe memory system.
 14. The system of claim 10, wherein the transientvoltage supply is to adjust the operation voltage to suppress transientnoise in power delivery to the memory system.
 15. The system of claim10, wherein the memory system includes a Dynamic Random Access Memorydevice.
 16. The system of claim 10, wherein the transient voltage supplyis to adjust the operation voltage based on a memory refresh cycle. 17.The system of claim 10, wherein the transient voltage supply is toadjust the operation voltage to control voltage transient noise withinan acceptable range.
 18. The system of claim 10, further comprising aclock timer to provide to the transient voltage supply an initial timeand a period of a memory control signal input to the memory system, thetransient voltage supply to adjust the operation voltage in response tothe initial time and the period provided by the clock timer.
 19. Thesystem of claim 17, further comprising a current register to provide tothe transient voltage supply a maximum current and a step currentdemanded by the memory system, the transient voltage supply to adjustthe operation voltage in response to the maximum current and the stepcurrent provided by the current register.
 20. The system of claim 10,further comprising a current register to provide to the transientvoltage supply a maximum current and a step current demanded by thememory system, the transient voltage supply to adjust the operationvoltage in response to the maximum current and the step current providedby the current register.
 21. The system of claim 10, wherein the memorysystem includes at least one memory module.
 22. A method comprising:providing an operation voltage to a memory system; and adjusting theoperation voltage provided to the memory system during transient eventsof the memory system.
 23. The method of claim 21, wherein the adjustingof the operation voltage is in response to an initial time of a controlsignal input to the memory system, a period of the memory controlsignal, a maximum current demanded by the memory system, and a stepcurrent demanded by the memory system.
 24. The method of claim 21,wherein the adjusting of the operation voltage is to suppress transientnoise in power delivery to the memory system.
 25. The method of claim21, wherein the transient voltage supply is to adjust the operationvoltage based on a memory refresh cycle.
 26. The method of claim 21,wherein the adjusting of the operation voltage is to control voltagetransient noise within an acceptable range.